Study finds people with COVID-19 remain infectious five days after first symptoms – CTV
Aug. 21, 2022
A new study out of the U.K. has revealed most people who test positive for COVID-19 remain infectious after five days from their first sight of symptoms.
Researchers at Imperial College London followed a group of people who developed mild cases of COVID-19 to better understand when and for how long they remain infectious.
The study followed 57 people in various households who tested positive for COVID-19 and found two thirds of the participants remained infectious five days after their symptoms started showing. Additionally, one quarter were still infectious seven days after their initial symptoms.
Published in the peer-reviewed The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal on Thursday, the study found one in five people were contagious before they started showing symptoms, suggesting the majority of those infected with COVID-19 are not likely to be infectious before symptoms develop.
